iPhone vs. Droid

I've always been an iPhone girl, but my guy is all about his Droid. At least, he has been until now. A series of dropped calls, malfunctions, and even a Verizon-issued replacement Droid has him thinking about saying goodbye.

To be fair, I know a number of people who are extremely happy with their Droids. I, for one, love the Android OS. It's full of useful features and apps, and hands-down has a superior camera. A few months ago, though, his Droid started getting incredibly slow. Whether he was checking text messages, trying to send email, or trying to make a call, the phone took forever to catch up. He contacted Verizon to report the problems, and they immediately sent a replacement phone (point Verizon). But now the replacement phone is having the same issues, and he can't stop thinking about the BlackBerry he left behind. I'm pulling for him to switch to the Droid Incredible when it launches in just over a week; since it runs the same software, it won't carry too much of a learning curve, and I'm pretty sure he'll dig the sleek and slim design.

I can't help wanting to tease him, though. The Droid is a perfectly capable and powerful phone, but it doesn't seem to be his match. So does this mean the iPhone wins? I've been so pleased with my iPhone from day one, so I can't imagine wanting to give it up.

Have you ever had to give up on a phone that just wasn't working out for you?

From the beginning, the Motorola Droid has been marketed towards guys. Just let the commercials and advertisements speak for themselves. One even proclaims: "No. It's not a princess. It's a robot. A phone that trades hair-do for can-do." Need I say more?

A recent survey found 73 percent of Android users are male. Couple the guys' love for the OS and the robot-like feel of the phone, and the Droid does seem to be the perfect guy phone.

As much as I want to start ranting about how annoying it is that advertisers think certain gadgets are for guys, and others are for women, I can't. Find out why when you read more

I try not to use my guy's phone too often when we're together, mostly out of principle. I am an iPhone, after all, and why share when I have my own? Besides, when I use his phone I usually end up messing something up in one way or another. I've made a few calls on it, though, and recently noticed that I keep bumping the phone with my face and either muting or ending a call. I've never had this problem with my iPhone, and my guy has never experienced it. We also noticed that when I use the Droid, the screen lights up when it's next to my ear — something that shouldn't happen.

A few Internet searches later, we figured out the problem: my long hair confuses the phone's proximity sensor, causing the screen to switch on even if the phone is still to my ear. If you're unfamiliar with the term, a proximity sensor is the part of your smartphone that detects when you're holding the phone to your ear, shutting the screen off. Once you move the phone — presumably away from your ear — the proximity sensor tells the screen to switch on. But with the Droid, if your hair gets in the way, the proximity sensor detects movement, switching on the screen and leaving it unlocked for accidental button pushes or hangups. The iPhone has a proximity sensor, but I've never experienced this problem.

It's easily solved; just be sure to pull your long hair away from your face and ear before making a phone call. After figuring out the problem, the accidental hangups stopped happening.

If you have a Droid, you might be familiar with the rooster alarm tone. And if you're not familiar with it, imagine the most annoying high-pitched rooster sound imaginable playing loudly over and over and over. It's just the latest chapter in the saga of his Droid vs. my iPhone, but this particular battle literally jolts me out of bed in the morning.

At first look, the Droid has some great alarm features. For one, its stand/charger keeps the phone at a nice angle for an alarm clock. The actual numbers on the clock are big enough to see at a distance. And my favorite feature: when you set the alarm, it displays the amount of time remaining until it'll go off, making it easy to see when you've accidentally set it to ring at 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m.

What I don't like? The selection of alarms, especially the one my guy has chosen to use at 7 a.m. each morning. Find out how we've come to an alarm compromise when you read more

By now you know . . . my guy loves his Droid, I love my iPhone. And I can't resist any opportunity to pit the two gadgets head to head, especially if it means I can defend my iPhone against his Droid superiority complex.

One of my guy's chief complaints about his Droid is that the onscreen keyboard is pretty tricky to use. Retraining your fingers to type on either an onscreen or entirely new keyboard is tricky, especially when you're used to firing off emails and text messages in a hurry. As an iPhone user, I feel like I've mastered the touch keyboard, but I had yet to really get a feel for the Droid's onscreen keyboard.

This weekend, I got my chance. We were driving on a busy road when my guy got an urgent work-related text and asked me to type his responses as he dictated them to me. A few observations: the Droid's onscreen keyboard is not like the iPhone's. Although they're similar in size, I had a tough time finding the letters I wanted, much less punctuation. Thinking it would be easier, I flipped out the keyboard . . . and promptly sent a typo-ridden text that wasn't even halfway typed. Sorry, boyfriend's co-worker. For the rest of the story, read more

After the first round of camera head-to-head, I couldn't decide if I preferred my iPhone or his Droid, although the Droid's camera is technically superior. We decided to put our respective cameras to the test for a second round of battle royale during a dinner out. Side note: I know I said previously that phones at the table is a no-no, but this was in the name of research!

One feature of the Droid we didn't test out in our first camera head-to-head is its flash, which is noticeably absent from the iPhone. I figured this would come in handy during dinner; the restaurant is fairly well-lit but since I'm a huge fan of taking photos of my food, I can appreciate some extra lighting, though I was skeptical of how well the Droid's flash would light our dinner. Here are three photos of our dinner (pork, with barley and greens in case you wanted to know): a Droid photo, an iPhone photo, and a Droid-with-flash photo.

To see which is which (and the best part — our dessert pics), read more

For my first Droid vs. iPhone post, I tested out the GPS functions on both handsets, and eventually conceded that I preferred the Droid's built-in GPS capabilities. Next up, the phones' built-in cameras.

Technically, the Droid's camera is more powerful. With 5MP, 4x zoom, and a flash, it beats the iPhone's 3MPs and flashless snaps any day. The Droid also comes with built-in editing software, while the iPhone does not (though if you're an iPhone user looking for a free photo editing application, I suggest the Photoshop App). On a recent road trip, we each took a photo of California's Bixby Bridge with our respective phones:

While they've both been scaled down considerably, you can notice the differences in the photos almost immediately. Keep in mind that the photos were taken in daylight without the use of the Droid's flash. One initial observation: there's a pretty significant delay when using the on-screen camera button on the Droid (point iPhone!) but once he figured out how to use the Droid's side button to snap the image, we were back on a level playing field. To find out which phone snapped which photo and see larger images of each, read more

The hype surrounding Motorola's Droid is understandable — for the first time, a phone has really started to give the iPhone a run for its money. Although phones can be polarizing, my guy and I have agreed to disagree on our top phone picks: he's a Droid, while I'm an iPhone.

This weekend, we took a road trip south from San Francisco down California's famed Route 1, and as we approached our first destination, we realized neither of us knew exactly where we were going. It was a race for GPS directions.

Who took home the prize for the fastest directions? Both phones successfully run Google Maps, though the Droid's mapping feature was a bit faster than my iPhone's. However, once we tried to find our way from a restaurant back to our hotel, the Droid and iPhone suggested completely different routes. So which phone won the GPS debate? Find out when you read more